Next of Kin Read Free

then,’ Ryan said grudgingly.
    Woody indicated that Ryan should lead the way. Outside, despite the rain, Mill Road was still busy; it was lined with little shops selling everything from vintage clothes to spicy falafel and Vietnamese vegetables, and was the place foreign students headed for to buy a little taste of home. There was a pool hall and Chinese supermarket and a Cajun café tucked between a guy who sold hookah pipes and a place that sold spices and herbs, that, when the wind was in the right direction, flooded the air with mouth-watering smells. This end of the road was the betting shop and across the way the pub.
    Ryan had always liked Mill Road. He’d never got around to travelling, missed out on all that whole gap year shizzle. Mill Road, he thought, was probably the closest he’d ever get to exotic places, although today the air smelt not of spices but of laundry and diesel fumes.
    The pub on the corner was as close as Ryan had got to a local; it wasn’t flash but it was comfortable, not done up to be something it wasn’t, which was a proper working man’s pub with sport on the TV, a couple of slot machines, decent beer and a good line in basic pub grub. More than that it was far enough away from where he lived to keep Sarah off his back.
    ‘So do you live round here?’ Woody asked, as they waited for the barman to notice them. This time of the afternoon the place was almost empty, the man was on his own, nipping in and out, clearing up, and refilling the shelves, so it took them a while to get served.
    Ryan shrugged. ‘Maybe half an hour’s walk away, not that far, but there’s a bus.’
    ‘Handy.’
    Ryan laughed. ‘Seriously. It’s not that far. And it’s a nice area.’
    ‘The place I’m in at the moment isn’t. I’m looking for somewhere else.’
    ‘You serious about that?’
    Woody nodded. ‘Yeah. The room I’ve got at the moment is a bit out of the way and a bit rough, you know what I mean?’
    Ryan nodded. ‘ Yeah,’ he paused. ‘The thing is we, that’s Sarah, we need—’
    Woody held up a hand to stop him. ‘References, deposit, someone who can pay on time and pay every month?’
    Ryan nodded. ‘She’s a bit of a stickler.’
    ‘Nothing wrong with that.’
    The barman finally came over. Woody encouraged Ryan to order first, insisted he had a pint, ordered an orange juice for himself, and then paid. ‘I’m doing my MBA,’ Woody said, handing the barman a crisp new twenty. ‘I’ve got references and my parents are bank rolling me while I’m over here studying. I get a regular allowance, and I need to be away from where I am, and I’m happy to pay for an upgrade.’
    ‘Right,’ said Ryan, nodding thoughtfully, as he took a mouthful of beer, sipping away the foam. He was parched. The lager was sharp and cold and for a moment Ryan thought that maybe the gods had smiled on him after all, recompense for the failure of his dead cert. ‘Well, we’ve got a couple of rooms,’ he said. ‘Nice rooms. Clean.’
    Woody nodded enthusiastically.
    ‘And it’s a nice area. On the other side of Jesus Green. You know, the park? Off Victoria Road.’
    ‘Is there any chance I could come round and have a look at it?’
    Ryan nodded. ‘Sure, when do you want to come round?’
    ‘The sooner the better, really.’ Woody picked up a menu from the bar. ‘I’m starving, do you fancy grabbing something to eat?’
    Ryan shrugged; he was flat-busted broke, the truth was that food sounded like a great idea but he certainly wasn’t going to order something he couldn’t pay for. He was hoping that there was something in the fridge when he got back. Maybe Sarah had been shopping. Sometimes she brought home leftovers from the restaurant where she worked in the evenings.
    ‘Cottage pie and chips,’ Woody was reading aloud, working his way down the menu. ‘Lasagne.’
    Ryan’s mouth watered. He hadn’t eaten all day, and hadn’t realised just how hungry he was. Better take it easy on